The Weare select board will have to cut about $109,000 from its proposed operating budget by March 14.

Residents voted in favor of reducing the $5.77 million budget proposal during Saturday’s deliberative session to come in less than the $5.78 million default budget.

The board departed from its previous tradition of keeping line items equal between the two budgets – meaning some line items in the default budget were higher than those same lines in the proposed budget – according to select board Chairman Keith Lecasse.

The two budgets had a roughly $6,000 difference before the amendment.

“In no way am I suggesting this year’s budget is not legal, but as we heard from many taxpayers during the public hearing, it’s not necessarily right,” Lecasse said.

The amendment was originally put forward as a reduction to the default budget, but select board Vice Chairman Thomas Clow said that budget can’t be amended once the select board completes it. Instead, the board will have to go back to the drawing board and create a new budget.

Prior to the amendment, which passed 41-36, the proposed budget was a 1.7 percent increase over last year’s budget, and would have a tax rate impact of $3.44 per $1,000 of assessed property value.

Emotions ran high as residents debated whether to approve a warrant asking for $185,596 to replace a plow truck with a new 10-wheel plow.

Those in favor of the article were concerned about the safety of the current truck, which was purchased in the 1980s, according to the select board.

“That truck doesn’t leave the yard without having to be towed back or coming back with something broken,” said Joseph Sarno, who works at the highway department.

But members of the finance committee who did not support the article said the truck’s tax impact of 22 cents was not worth it and could be delayed.

“I voted against this in full awareness and understanding that truck needs to be bought,” Jeff Brown said. “But in my opinion, you just can’t buy everything.”

Whether the town should allocate $75,000 to repair various town buildings was also hotly contested. Usage of the funds would include repairs to the town hall’s crumbling spires and rotting sideboard, restructuring the gazebo and any emergency repairs throughout the year.

The finance committee was concerned the board did not have a defined plan on how to spend the money, or how much each repair would cost, according to committee representative Lori Davis. Clow replied the town had an estimate of $179,000 on all the town hall work.

(Caitlin Andrews can be reached at 369-3309, candrews@cmonitor.com or on Twitter at @ActualCAndrews.)